Sprint says iPhone users 'more profitable' than other customers

In defense of Sprint's bet-the-company deal to carry Apple's iPhone, CEO Dan Hesse said that users of the device are "more profitable" on a whole when compared to other subscribers using phones running on other platforms like Android.

Hesse qualified his statement in an interview with Mobile World Live, noting that besides a low churn rate, iPhone users actually use less data on average than other smartphone customers using high-end 4G Android devices. The less bandwidth used by iPhone customers who have already paid for unlimited data plans presumably translates to lower operating costs and thus higher profit margins.

"So from a cost point of view and a customer lifetime value perspective, [iPhone users] are more profitable than the average smartphone customer," Hesse said.

In October 2011, Sprint first announced that it had made a deal with Apple to sell the popular device in what some called a "bet-the-company" move.

The nation's third-largest carrier was banking on recouping up front costs with subscriber revenue. Before nabbing the iPhone, Hesse was quoted as saying that the device was the number one reason his company was losing customers.

It was revealed in the Sprint's February 10-K report that the company planned to exceed the $15.5 billion minimum purchase agreement with Apple despite a decline in wireless profits due to high subsidy cost. The iPhone officially launched on Sprint's network in October, coinciding with the debut of the iPhone 4S, and the carrier sold 1.8 million units over the 2011 holiday quarter alone.

"Four out of every 10 iPhones we sold are for new customers," Hesse said. "That’s roughly double the rate of either of our competitors, so we’re pulling a lot of customers from our competitors."

This entire site keeps getting worse and worse by the post. You guys are turning into a site that is trying to prove why iOS is better than Android. Who cares? Choice is a beautiful thing, unless sites like this one feed the stupidity that is on BOTH SIDES of this senseless argument.

This entire site keeps getting worse and worse by the post. You guys are turning into a site that is trying to prove why iOS is better than Android. Who cares? Choice is a beautiful thing, unless sites like this one feed the stupidity that is on BOTH SIDES of this senseless argument.

Who cares, well besides you?

I actually find it pretty interesting that the Sprint CEO has these comments to say about the iPhone and its competitors.

I actually find it pretty interesting that the Sprint CEO has these comments to say about the iPhone and its competitors.

What else did you expect him to say? They bet the company on the iPhone. I highly doubt that at 5 months they've noticed more profit plus it's probably getting eaten up by the higher subsidy. Now the noticeable increase in subscribers is self evident and much easier to speak of.

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" Mark Twain"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX

Hesse qualified his statement in an interview with Mobile World Live, noting that besides a low churn rate, iPhone users actually use less data on average than other smartphone customers using high-end 4G Android devices.

I don't quite get this.. um... Sprint makes money when iPhone subscribers use a lot of data - unless of course, they are all on unlimited dataplan (which I don't think is the case here).

This entire site keeps getting worse and worse by the post. You guys are turning into a site that is trying to prove why iOS is better than Android. Who cares? Choice is a beautiful thing, unless sites like this one feed the stupidity that is on BOTH SIDES of this senseless argument.

Wait until you read Apple][s posts. He'll mention Android when the article doesn't.

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" Mark Twain"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX

I also don't get it and was about to post on the fact. Hope someone comes round to explain this.
I've previously heard on this forum that Apple iPhone users are more prolific users. Wouldn't that actually drive their expense in the other direction?

When I find time to rewrite the laws of Physics, there'll Finally be some changes made round here!

I am not crazy! Three out of five court appointed psychiatrists said so.

This entire site keeps getting worse and worse by the post. You guys are turning into a site that is trying to prove why iOS is better than Android. Who cares? Choice is a beautiful thing, unless sites like this one feed the stupidity that is on BOTH SIDES of this senseless argument.

Write like this at phandroid's forums, and tell use their response

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If you don't understand why, let me explain for you:
Android phones are data hog. If the user is a little knowledgeable, the phone will be used as proxy to download torrents. If the user is non-savvy, several malwares in the phone are doing malicious data transfer in background. And all of Android users are like to see ads than buy apps, thus more bandwidth are waste.

Fun and relaxing way to prepare Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) test with Juku Apps

This entire site keeps getting worse and worse by the post. You guys are turning into a site that is trying to prove why iOS is better than Android. Who cares? Choice is a beautiful thing, unless sites like this one feed the stupidity that is on BOTH SIDES of this senseless argument.

I'm assuming you're referring to the choice between iOS and Google's iOS clone?

Great choice!

Quote:

Originally Posted by dasanman69

Wait until you read Apple][s posts. He'll mention Android when the article doesn't.

And sometimes Apple ][ will be mentioned even when he hasn't posted.

Pathetic, isn't it?

Steve Job's vision was so forward thinking that he used to park in disabled spots before he became sick.

Every time I'm not on wifi, I feel very reluctant to go online because I can't wait for the data to load. I've never seen a speed test that would show me any number that is close to 1MB/s. If I'm lucky, I'd get .5 MB/s download.

When the LTE iPhone comes to Sprint, they better let me upgrade at a reasonable price or they'll lose me as soon as my contract ends.

At the highest level of data usage, my monthly data is well under 1GB... normally, it's around the 200MB mark.

So as I said in the title... how could iPhone users hog data when they can't even get a reasonable speed?

Just tested my speed with wifi off... the speed is 0.27 Mbps... keep in mind the lower-case b... that means the actual speed is less than .04MBps....

Tested it with wifi on... 7.57 Mbps.. That's .95MBps

So let's see... .04 MB/s or .95 MB/s ... which should I use... oh! Wifi, of course! See why I'm on wifi all the time? SO yeah... Hesse is right about iPhone users being on wifi more... because we can't stand their so called 3G speed... it's more like CDMA2000.... Why is my speed 12 years behind???

Considering how long Sprint has had the iPhone can we really say this? Typically people wait till the end of their contracts before switching carriers so October 2013 we will start seeing if people are actually loyal to Sprint.

Considering how long Sprint has had the iPhone can we really say this? Typically people wait till the end of their contracts before switching carriers so October 2013 we will start seeing if people are actually loyal to Sprint.

Do you not think that Hesse has the information to compare like to like? If he's saying they're more loyal, do you really think he's comparing ALL users at all times to iPhone users 6 months in? Cmon.

Considering how long Sprint has had the iPhone can we really say this? Typically people wait till the end of their contracts before switching carriers so October 2013 we will start seeing if people are actually loyal to Sprint.

Left and right while walking and up and down while doing jumping jacks!

The guy just gets under my skin sometimes because he sings one tune and does nothing but slams people and calls them names just because they don't use Apple stuff. Is a person really dumb and a f*cking homeless loser idiot because they use an Android phone? I think Apple products are far above anything else out there but his mono-thoughts get a little old and stale after a while.